I have played Sentinels of the Starry Skies and quite enjoyed it but Realms of Revelation has received a lower score from most reviews. Is this a step back to Hands of the Heavenly Bride which I didn't enjoy as much, or is it as good as Sentinels of the Starry Skies?

DQVI is basically a proto DQVII where you have a fixed cast but still also have recruitable monsters (although this version dialed that down to a set of slimes and an axe lizard) and a vocational center to allow your characters to pick classes to change stats and learn abilities from. Classes mature based upon the number of battles you fight. There's also a dual world aspect going on and has a particularly awesome sequence early on, right before you gain access to the game's class system.

DQIX is much closer to DQIII where you can make your lead character and your party members from scratch and even let them pick which vocation you want them to work towards from the start. Classes mature based upon both the class level (characters do not have their own level) and skill points accumulated at each level which they can distribute amongst various weapon proficiencies and class perks. The plot is unfortunately much simpler here than in DQVI and the best parts rest mostly in the post game and the free downloadable content. This game also has a multiplayer aspect that the other game lacks but good luck trying to find somebody else to play with. If you do know somebody though then by all means get this game. Otherwise they're basically the same and it's up to preference.

I played a short amount of IX and while part of it was fun the lack of any decent character kills it for me.Dragon Quest is already full of stupid characters but this time it seems they went overboard.

I haven't played VI but if it has characters you can talk to, I'd go for it instead of IX.

I'm a Dragon Quest newbie myself, about to check V and IX based on the suggestions here.... Pretty excited, as I loved VII if memory serves me... played it ages ago..... anyhoo..... you can get them brand new MUCH cheaper than in stores on Amazon right now if anyone was wondering. They are like 12.90 apiece or something and still 35 in stores new around my neck of the woods.